Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A recently fired Monticello police sergeant was charged Thursday for allegedly going into his estranged wife's home and attacking another man earlier this month.
Jesse Cole Young, 36, is charged in 7th District Court with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony and assault, a class B misdemeanor.
Young used a key to open a locked door at the woman's home late at night Dec. 2 and went inside, confronted a man there and threw him against a wall, according to a probable cause statement filed by a San Juan County sheriff's deputy.
"There was a dent in the Sheetrock where (the man's) head hit the wall," the statement says. "All of the items on or against the same wall in the opposite room fell off the wall."
Young allegedly refused to leave after attacking the man. Charging documents don't elaborate further on the specific allegations against the former sergeant.
Young, a four-year employee with Monticello police, was fired Dec. 8, five days after he was put on administrative leave for the alleged attack.
Monticello Police Chief Kent Adair and a dispatcher and deputy for the sheriff's office remain on paid administrative leave pending multiple investigations into whether police failed for several hours to respond the 911 call made by Young's wife in the incident.
Adair's role in the police response to the alleged altercation is being investigated by the state Department of Public Safety to avoid any conflict of interest, said Monticello Mayor Tim Young, who is first cousins with Jesse Young. The mayor said he doesn't know how far along that agency's investigation is.
The dispatcher and deputy, whose names have not been released, are being investigated internally by the sheriff's office, said San Juan County Sheriff Rick Eldredge. He said the agency hopes to conclude that investigation by the middle of next week if possible.
The dispatcher in question handled Jesse Young's wife's 911 call and the deputy was notified of that call, Eldredge confirmed earlier this week.
Jesse Young has no other significant criminal history in Utah. His wife filed for divorce in September in what is an ongoing case.
